1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to kneadable materials for gluing, sealing, filling, modeling, coating, doweling or bonding, consisting of a hardenable component and a hardener component or agent, namely, materials of the so-called two-component type.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Two-component materials consisting of hardeners and hardenable components are widely known and have significant industrial importance. The hardenable components which can be used are a wide variety of compounds, mostly organic compounds, such as, epoxides, unsaturated monomeric or polymeric esters, for example, acrylates, which harden after they have been mixed with a second component hardener, i.e., hardening agent. Depending on the type of the hardenable compound and the desired reaction, the hardeners which can be used are, for example, either true reaction partners, which become part of the reaction product, or also catalytically acting substances. For example, the hardeners which can be used are amines, including polyamines, amides, peroxides, including hydrogen peroxides and peracids, or unsaturated compounds, such as, styrene and the like.
The course of the reaction as well as the properties of the reaction products are significantly influenced not only by the type of the reaction components or catalysts, but also by the ratio of hardener and hardenable component in the mixture. Mixing errors may result in completely useless products. When too high a ratio of hardener and hardenable component is used, the danger of reduced potlife exists which can make it impossible to work the material; in the case of too small a ratio of hardener and hardenable component, there is the danger that the material will only partially or insufficiently harden so that inoperative products are formed.
These problems as well as the numerous attempts to overcome them are well known. For example, systems based on acrylates are known which contain special hardeners, namely, hydrogen peroxides, wherein hardening takes place with the exclusion of air or oxygen. Materials are also known which contain at least one of the two components in micro-encapsulated form, wherein the microcapsules are destroyed by appropriate measures at the time of use in order to start the hardening reaction. In all of these one-component systems which, accordingly, contain hardener and hardenable component pre-measured in the required mixture ratio, a certain reduction in the storage life must be expected.
Thus, to achieve a fully satisfactory storage life, the storing of the two reactive components separate from each other, e.g., in separate containers, cannot be avoided. Any contact results in a premature reaction which reduces the storage life. Attempts to overcome this problem, as by mixing aids, for example, coloring, dosing aids, and the like, did not work. Time and again, mixing errors with all the disadvantageous consequences resulted.